Anna Morgan
Anna Morgan Sadly, our mother, Anna Morgan, left us early on the morning of May19, 2021. She was an extremely strong, independent and ageless woman of the greatest generation. Wife of James Morgan, a career army soldier, she traveled from Panama to his many posts during his deployments. After his retirement, Anna lived in Mahanoy City, PA, her husband’s hometown. His family gave Anna and the entire family a warm welcome and she remained in Mahanoy City until moving to Santa Barbara in1968to join her daughter Anita. Anna worked at the UCSB cafeteria before going to Westmont College, to serve students in their Dining Commons. The students were one of Anna’s greatest joys. She was up at 5:00 every morning to make sure they had breakfast before class. She anticipated their many needs. When sports teams came back from competitions after the cafeteria was closed, they found that Anna had secretly stashed sack dinners for all of them. Students took Anna horseback riding and shared many other activities with her. Even now, decades after retirement, former Westmont students will see Anna around town and call out her name and remind her of how sweet she was to them. Her mission in life has been to take care of Dennis, her now 65-year-oldautistic son. At some point a social worker asked if Dennis should be placed in a care home. Anna was shocked by the question. “Why would he live with someone else when I am his mother and can take care of him?” …and she did, for his entire life. Anna is survived by her five children: Anita, Juan Roberto, Carol, Richard, Dennis, her three grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Anita in Santa Barbara and Carol in Simi Valley, made sure their mother received any support she needed. Richard drove from Ventura to Santa Barbara several times a week to sit and watch Jeopardy with his mother. Anna eyes would light up whenever her grandson, Gabe, came to visit, which he often did and especially when he showed her videos of her great grandson, Vince. The family would like to give special thanks to the staff at the Alpha Resource Center. Dennis is one of the longest attending clients at Alpha and, as such, he is given special status there. Anna was always appreciative to all the staff who were so kind and caring towards him, especially Martha, Nancy and Colin. Anna loved being a member of Our Lady of Sorrows Church. When she was driving, she attended Mass every single day. Being fluent in both Spanish and English, she attended either of those two masses on Sundays. A couple of years ago when she could no longer drive, she would often walk the six blocks to church. When she did not want to walk and if she couldn’t get a ride, she was known to stand on the corner of Bath and Mitcheltorina and hitchhike to church! Anna was a very determined woman. Special thanks to the doctors and nurses at Cottage Hospital, especially to Sierra, Elizabeth and Gosha. Special thanks to Dr. Winthrop, who for decades has been so kind to her, providing her with excellent eye care for her complicated vision. A special Mass for Anna will be held on Friday, May 28that 10:00 AM at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church.